Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, May 16: DOGTOWN REDEMPTION

Amir Soltani and Chihiro Wimbush’s look at the intersection of recycling and homelessness made its world premiere at Mill Valley last year, where it won an audience award. The doc has also appeared at fests in Salem and Santa Monica, and at local screenings in San Francisco and Oakland.

Set in the titular West Oakland neighborhood, Soltani and Wimbush’s film profiles individuals subsisting on the fringes through regular scavenging for recyclables. Their base of operation is Alliance Metals, a recycling center which prides itself on helping the homeless by offering them some means of earning an honest living. But as the film soon reveals, the situation isn’t quite so rosy: Alliance Metals has its detractors, some who claim the business is exploitative, using a vulnerable population to keep it in operation while paying them very little, and others, representative of gentrification in the area, who take issue with the consequences of the homeless in the area, such as litter. While this debate figures throughout this somewhat rough-hewn but engaging project, with the fate of Alliance Metals determined by its end, the filmmakers are more focused on several resilient subjects – though they don’t all have happy endings.

Coming to DVD this coming Tuesday, May 17: NO CONTROL

Jessica Solce’s examination of the gun control debate had its world premiere at DOC NYC in 2014. Other screenings have included the Denver Film Society, and the film previously has been released on VOD.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, May 10: WHERE TO INVADE NEXT

Michael Moore’s attempt to pilfer other nations’ best ideas for America debuted at Toronto last year. Screenings followed at DOC NYC, the New York Film Festival, Berlin, Hamptons, Denver, AFI Fest, New Zealand, Palm Springs, Philadelphia, and the upcoming Sheffield, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, May 9: PEACE OFFICER

Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber’s exploration of the expansion of police SWAT team operations premiered at SXSW last year, where it won both jury and audience awards. Screenings followed at Full Frame, Montclair, Hot Docs, Little Rock, AFI Docs, Traverse City, New Zealand, and Milwaukee, among others. The film screens on PBS as part of a special two-night event exploring gun violence, Armed in America.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, May 6: MAD TIGER

Jonathan Yi and Michael Haertlein’s portrait of friendship within an unusual musical group had its world premiere at DOC NYC. Other screenings have included CAAMFest, Minneapolis-St Paul, Salem, and Osaka.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Peelander-Z isn’t your ordinary band. Once audiences see their outrageous onstage antics – human bowling, anyone? – and distinctive color-coded costumes, they might just start to believe the Japanese art-punk band’s claims of coming from another planet. After fifteen years of playing in NYC and touring around the country, Peelander Red decides to quit, upending the relationship with his best friend Peelander Yellow, and leading to dramatic changes in this one-of-a-kind, infectiously entertaining group.